An Era of Steel and Flame
by Nexterio
Summary: The world we know is about to change. A new age is about to be forged through steel, fire, and blood. On the west, ambition and the seeking for glory led the lesser men through fighting and the false sensation of power and authority, and on the east, dragon riders seek to reestablish their domains of old.
1. Prologue

**Coast of Blackwater Bay, 7998**

The sunset allured Ghüris attention, who on the top of the Haenil's Tower, his father. He ignored the structure of the white tower itself, instead, focusing on the sunset and the orange aspect of the mildly cloud-filled sky and the sun itself, yet even the Lord recognized the beauty of the construction he stood on the top, built by his father on the shores of Rosby, made of marble with discs of stone who divided the watchtower into floors, in general of a simple design, it was meant to be the start point of a coastal fortress, abandoned by his father due to the lack of resources to do so. It reached up to 25m (82ft), 8 meters wide (26ft), and on the top it, there were two banners, one belonging to the House Hoare, representing the allegiance of the Haenilids to the Kings of the Isles and the Rivers, the other one was the symbol adopted by Haenil and his fellow companions during the conquest of Rosby ten years ago, his banner was of a sapphire blue background with a leafless white tree on it.  
As the lord looked through the Myrish eyes who once belonged to his father, he stared at the direction of the Narrow Sea, he instantly remembered the words of his father, to always look at the east, but never forget the threats that reside on the west.

* * *

**Dragonstone, 7998**

On the island of Dragonstone, the messenger of the Storm King was now leaving, the attempt of Argilac to establish a marriage between Aegon and his daughter was a failure, the Targaryen refused it, not even counterproposing it, making the envoy returning to the Stormlands empty-handed. The outcome of it was not to the matters to the Lord of Dragonstone, who instead, slowly grew more attached to Essos, perhaps the interest in Westeros was temporary?  
As he walked through the walls of the black stoned citadel, a pensive look on his face, as he was obsessively thinking about something, the quick pace of him rushed him to one of the staircases, dark basilisks flanking it as he quickly passed through an archway with a small dragon topping it, he lifted his head as he crossed through the yard, entering on the castle, meeting with his one of his sister-wifes, Visenya.  
The silver-golden haired woman stopped him with her hand, staring at him, the unapproving of something could be easily read on her face, her sharp glance aiming Aegon.

"What are you doing up there?" she demanded, staring at his purple eyes.

"Reforming what I call the planning room," he continued to walk, ignoring her before being interrupted again, this time her hand was holding one of his arms.

The lord turned his head to her. "Want to know more?" he calmly suggested, she frowned her face as let his arm go, expecting for answers.

"Our voyages to Westeros and my experience of being on Essos have since then forced me to compare both of them, the beauty of the eastern continent, the opportunities that lay there, the history of it, the rulership of our ancestors, drives me to our connections with Essos, and as such, our destiny to rule will be brought to these places. It was proven that without Valyrian overlords, these lands are meant to see only destruction and war," Aegon spoke, turning to the stairs.

He headed to it, walking over it as he meets with a few workers. The Targaryen was chatting with them, gesturing his hands as Visenya observed.  
He moved on a slower pace, accompanied by Orys and four workers, the Lord soon vanished from her view, who started to search for her younger sister, Rhaenys, after all, she had to be sure she was not the only person not knowing about the changes that were happening.

* * *

**Road to Rosby, 7998**

The Lord of Rosby was on his grey horse, accompanied by five guards, four members of the quintet wore a visible mail shirt which fell to their knees, it came with suitable cuts to help the warriors mount and unmount their horses with ease, along with the mail shirt, these cavalrymen wore a coif, the extended part of the mail shirt which covered the head as well, they wore a steel helmet, of a conical shape who extended to the nose. Apart from the four members who followed Ghüris, there was Ser Elras Wern, his Marshal, the last member of the quintet, thus the leader of them, the Marshal whore a full plate armor, it was a high-quality metal armor, made with movable joints, slim-waisted cuirass, segmented sabatons, and a sallet helmet, his sword always in hands, as he followed the Lord, yet paid attention to everything near the group of six men. Meanwhile, Ghüris' horse galloped fast than the others, the Lord dictated the rhythm of the group as a maestro conducted the orchestra, the Lord wore no armor, his white cloak hovered on the air as his horse moved forward with speed, his red tunic feel to his knees, it had a dark blue horizontal line on his waist, white embroidery was present on his shoulders, three small swords over each shoulder, a leather belt almost hid the dark blue line, the most flashy item on the belt was the sheath, were Ghüris' sword, Thexdrail was put in, it emanated an uncommon sensation to the ones near Ghüris, at the same time it mysteriously attracted the ones who looked at it, called for the observer, made the person lust for the weapon, it terrified them. The sword had a golden pommel with a blue gem in the center, the grip made of steel and covered with shagreen, the crossguard was golden as the pommel in the eyes of Elras who looked at the sword, turning his glance to the Lord and approaching his side.

"My lord, if I may ask, why so sudden the decision to return to the castle?" the Knight asked, staring at Ghüris pale face as his short length, light blond, side-swept fringe hair floated with the winds against his face as he rode his horse.

"Time has come, Ser. The nobles of the Riverlands led by the Tully rose in rebellion against the King," the Lord answered, his bright blue eyes focusing on the road.

"It means that we are against Harren?" Elras asked, worried about the potential answer of being against the King of the Isles and Rivers, after all, the Darklyn probably would support Harren, so do the Stokeworth, away from the support of the Lords of the Rivers, Rosby would be easily crushed, it numbers were easily surpassed by the Lords of Duskendale alone.

"Not yet. But I pretend to do so," Ghüris answered, his firm and serious tone made the Knight even more worried. "Firstly, we must deal with the Stokeworth and the Darklyn without rebelling. The war on the Riverlands will need the attention of Harren, his loyalists on the Rivers and the Ironborn".

"By doing it, Harren could understand it as a rebellion, you'd be attacking his loyalists, furthermore, they can field a bigger army," Elras replied, this time Ghüris turned his head to the one of the Ser.

"My father took Rosby with 100, undisciplined men. I can do the same with Stokeworth and Duskendale, even better with an army bigger than it and disciplined, it's time to see if the improvements by father made will be worthy".

After his statement, his horse increased the pace as he shouts "Quickly! We are approaching the castle!".

* * *

**Castle of Dragonstone, 7998**

Not even Rhaenys or Visenya knew about the changes their brother was doing, of course, they remembered about him speaking about a new chamber, one with a painted table in it, though both of the sisters ignored most of it, seeing it as a plan who won't come out of the paper, in that case, of Aegon's mind. Of course, that's what they thought, and Visenya couldn't stop thinking about Aegon's words, clearly referring to establishing rulership over the Free Cities, not so Free anymore if that happened.  
Time has come, was what Aegon told his military officers, sisters, and members of an indeed small council of Dragonstone, they would meet at the new chamber, named by the Lord as the Chamber of the Painted Table, the reason of it would be explicit.  
In the same day, at night, the invited persons entered the chamber, as soon as they entered they came across with a large carved wooden table in the center of the room, plenty of chairs around it as the table resembled the form of Essos, a map of it, showing the terrain, rivers and strongholds, the map covered as far as the Red Wastes and the Bone Mountains, Aegon was sat on one of the chairs, his hands intertwined as he looked at them.  
"Welcome, we have a business to discuss," he said, gesticulating for them to take a seat.  
"What is this supposed to be?" Rhaenys asked, looking straight to Aegon as the other invited members did the same action.  
"Well..." he started to spoke, standing up and approaching the table, sustaining his hands over it. "Our destiny, the destiny of all of us," he continued.  
The members of the room kept silence, waiting for him to speak as they stared at him. "Essos, my friends. It's where we go, to build our story, and our glory, one which will remain with our descendants as we give to our people the glory they once lost. That is what that's about".  
"Intending to invade Essos then?" Daemon Velarion asked, grinning just as he heard the idea of it.  
"Yes. Nor the Free Companies in the Free Cities, the Unsullied, nor the Dothraki can stand the might of the Dragon, if they stand against us, there's only one fate to them" he answered inspiration was transmitted from his powerful voice and his words, said with confidence.  
"Are you with me?" Aegon shouted, soon the persons in the room stood up, grabbing their swords, most of them smiled at the idea, aiming their blades high as they shout "Up to the end!"  
"Then it's settled! The Free Cities and all of Essos shall taste the Dragon's power!" Aegon shouted again, holding Blackfyre as they appointed their swords to the table who had the form of Essos, the Valyrian steel of Blackfyre touched at the location of Pentos.

* * *

**Rosby, 7998**

Ghüris and his men already have arrived at Rosby, the castle and its surroundings changed since Haenil took it from the House Rosby, the farms near it prospered during Haenil's rule, his subsidies to the farmers, artisans, blacksmiths, and crafters encouraged the growth of the commerces in the area, the peasants of Rosby condition of live increased during Haenil, one of the best of all of the Seven Kingdoms. Many still wonder how he acquired the money he spent, the disbelief of the lack of resources of the abandon of the planned Haenil Fortress on the coasts of Rosby and the construction of port grew during it.

The six men riding on their horses, cutting the winds at the quick speed of the horses they rode quickly made them arrive on the gates of the castle who quickly opened the gates as the garrison saw Ghüris, as they slowly passed through the gate, Elras observed the walls who were hugely improved thanks to Haenil, these walls were even thicker than the ones of Duskendale, a few people insisted on comparing it with the ones of Harrenhall, but despite the comparisons, these huge blocks of stone that composed the fortification of Rosby gave to Elras an uncommon sensation, he didn't know well, but only he seemed to sense it.

In one thing, the quintet agreed, the walls had an unusual form, the huge blocks of stones were thicker, Elras could swear to sense something different on it, a strange force, but even so, the design of it was a hexagon, it had bulwarks at the corners of the walls and cavaliers built within these fortifications, the walls reached up to 5 meters (16 feet) high, the Knight still couldn't understand how Haenil was able to afford for it all without being in debt.

As they approached the manor house who belonged to Ghüris, they observed the walls of it, they weren't properly finished by Haenil as they were abandoned by him together with the fortifications on the coast, yet, they ignored it, entering the residence of the Lord of the Rosby.

Inside the residence of the Lord of Rosby, Ghüris had already contacted the Maester of Rosby to send a message to Tyral Daxter, the message was an objective and direct one, commanding him to gather as many soldiers as possible and head to Rosby. Along with it, other messages were sent, this time to the nobles who were subject to Rosby, it requested military support, sending at least a third of their levies to Tyral Daxter.

"My Lord, already intending to mobilize?" Elras asked, clearly a rhetorical question.

"Definitely. I shall do it quickly, I intend to take Stokeworth without a field battle, though I can't say the same for Duskendale, hardly I'll be able to surprise them," Ghüris answered, moving towards the Ser as his hand was over his shoulder.

"And now, I need you to do something as well Elras. The levies of Rosby are already being raised, take them and gather as many soldiers you can, numbers can be as crucial as quality".

In the same moment the Lord said it, Elras bowed his head, leaving the manor house as he prepared himself to accomplish the task given to him.

* * *

**Throne Room of Dragonstone, 7998**

Aegon Targaryen, the Lord of Dragonstone, and soon to be declared as Emperor, was kneeling, his sister-wife Rhaenys Targaryen in front of him, her hands holding a simple circlet, it was made of Valyrian steel, set with rubies, the dragonrider looked directly at her eyes as her hands slowly approached his head.  
The place was rather empty, together with the Targaryens, there were the lords who were subjects of Aegon, his friends, and officers. The presence of religious figures was none as the three Targaryens claimed to answer no god or religion.

"I, Aegon Targaryen, the First of my name, promise, pledge and guarantee that I will be the protector, the defender of the realm and the guardian of the people in all ways useful to it," Aegon stated, still knelt.

"I, Rhaenys Targaryen, by the will of the people, name you, Aegon Targaryen, the First of his name, the Emperor of the Valyrians, King of all Essos and Shield to his people," she acclaimed him, putting the crown on his head as he stood up.

"Long live the Emperor! May the Emperor live forever!" the crowd shouted.


	2. Chaos over the Riverlands

_Disclaimer:_ _A Song of Ice and Fire is owned by G.R.R. Martin._

* * *

**Northern Rosby, 7998.**

The ravens of the Maester Banneth quickly arrived at the small strongholds of the subjects manors of Ghüris, requesting a third of their levies to grant military support to the Lord of Rosby, it was clear that he intended of going to war.  
One of the ravens safely made its way to the barracks where the commander Tyral Daxter and the 300 men retinue who in turn belonged to the Lord himself. The composition of the military force was of a diverse composition, having in heavy infantry units which wore full plate armor, made of a sallet helmet, bevor, two-parted cuirass, segmented sabatons, slim-waisted cuirass, among with the segmented sabaton, and other pieces of the armor was the standard armor of the small, but effective army of Rosby.  
The heavy infantry of the retinue was composed of halberds, and swordsmen, the later held a bastard sword in one hand and a heater shield. On the other side, the heavy cavalry was only composed of lancers who held a wide, thick, heavy lance with a shaped grip, among a sword as the sidearm.  
The retinue under Tyral's command was divided among 100 halberds, 100 swordsmen, 50 knights, and 50 longbowmen. As soon as he received the orders from the Lord, he reunited the retinue, sending the six captains of his 50-men companies to meet with the levies that would join them, sending messengers before doing so, their task would be to request food supplies as well. In the meantime, Tyral and the soldiers that stayed in the camp waiting for the levies worked on expanding the camp to storage more supplies in it.  
The process took another four days, on the fourth day the troops of the subject lords joined with the original group of the retinue, the commander soon gave the orders to prepare themselves to the march to Rosby, expressing his will of reaching it in less than three days.

"Commander, the troops sent by the minor lords increased our army significantly along with the recruitment of local peasants," Dalran Brewlan, a minor noble and the second-in-command reported to Tyral.

"How many?" the commander asked at the same moment, a direct question.

"We have now around a thousand soldiers, though most of them are light infantry soldiers, equipped with chainmail armor, a nasal helmet along with a common shield and sword. We also successfully gathered a few archers on the way," the officer answered, not particularly happy with the situation, though satisfied.

Tyral reacted with a surprised expression, leaving the tent. "Excellent. Now, we move south," he proclaimed as left the tent.

The one thousand soldiers were soon reunited, the armies gave by the minor lords had lower quality equipment-wise if compared with the original retinues, though Daxter saw potential in the new longbowmen. Soon, the army moved south to the castle, Tyral ordered a quick march, though he brought the wagons of the supplies with him, he hoped to have it replenished in the capital of Rosby.

Rosby and Stokeworth 7998

The voyage of Tyral and his 1000 men took more time than the expected, though it was caused by Tyral's action who choose to stop near a small village, his men then quickly built a training ground, along with it he switched some of the men-at-arms with pikemen, despite his plans, they had to be abandoned as he had to arrive on Rosby the fast he could.  
When his army arrived, they quickly were notified of Ser Elras' success in gathering an army, the trained levies of the castle of Rosby reached up to 1000 men lonely, he successfully raised a thousand and five hundred soldiers, though the quality of them surely could be better.  
The news of Tyral's arrival made Ghüris act quickly, starting the march to the north in the next day, he brought with him siege weapons and left them with a group of 200-men, mainly light infantry, and cavalry, they were led by Alberet Risley who owned estates on the south of Rosby, along with it, a decent amount of supply was taken with Ghüris army of three thousand and three hundred soldiers.  
Ghüris' objective was to eliminate the possibility of joint actions of the lords of Stokeworth, and the lords of Duskendale, to accomplish it needed to quickly defeat Stokeworth, his plans were to battle with the Lord of Stokeworth and defeat him in a single battle, without needing to take the castle of Stokeworth.  
Near Stokeworth, Ghüris and his men were on their camp, built-in open ground, there were around two thousand soldiers on the camp, the other one thousand and three hundred soldiers were sent to the north, led by Hugar Edgerton, the Lesser Lord of Edgerton, these troops were meant to scout, pillage and attack the countryside of Stokeworth, it had to be aggressive and effective as Ghüris hopped that Lord Kean Stokeworth would soon attack him or either the armies of the relatively unloyal Hugar Edgerton and his mainly light and heavy cavalry, along with archers.  
Meanwhile, the siege weapons were still in a considerable distance, being scouted through the shores of now what is the Lordship of Stokeworth.  
In a matter of days, the forces of Hugar Edgerton had with success ravaged a considerable area near the castle of Stokeworth, meanwhile, agents informed Ghüris that the House Byrch wasn't giving any supports at all to the Lord of Stokeworth.  
The first contact would surely happen, and very soon.

**Farm East Wind, Stokeworth, 7998**

The news of a few scouts about a thousand men force of Stokeworth approaching changed the scenario of Hugar Edgerton and his men, one day ago they took the farm they would now try to secure as a position to rout out the forces of their enemies. The reliefs of the area could be useful, hills on the eastern side of what was once a prosperous farm, now a burned and flat land could be useful to provide support made by the longbowmen archers, the place where Hugar's soldiers stood was an open, flat area, the north was an area filled by trees, and where the Stokeworth forces would come from, after all, most of the army of Rosby was, in fact, more to the south, only 300 men were in these burned grounds, the rest of them with and Hugar were somewhere in the dense forest of the south, covered by the extension of the hills, however, once his forces moved to attack, it had to be a fast and crushing move if he wanted to avoid casualties.

Two hours after the report of Edgerton's scouts of an approaching enemy host, led by Felir Stokeworth, the second and youngest son of Kean, the forces of Hugar were already well prepared to an attack, the archers on the hills were mostly hidden in another side of the hill, they would be called by the few pikemen and swordsmen who would try to counter the attack of Felir, once the support of the archers arrived, and Felir's forces fought with the light infantry almost near in the hills, far from the forests, the forces of Hugar would charge at them. Of course, it could be a great victory or a great defeat, but the lord of Edgerton was willing to test it.

The troops of Felir, composed of 50 archers, 820 swordsmen and 130 armored knights crossed the forest slowly, the first instinct of the Stokeworth was of an attempt of an ambush, he chose to attack with caution. "Archers! To the vanguard!" he shouted to his men, picking up a horn and using it. Soon, his entire army moved quicker than before, leaving the forest as he used it again, stopping as the archers fired at will against the infantry near the hill.  
In the hills and at that distance, most of the arrows were precise. "Swordsmen! To the front, form a shield wall!" the swordsmen soon moved to the front, trying to make a shield wall at the orders of the captain of the units, Eddard Perk. The answer of the hidden archers was of attacking, walking up to the wall as they attacked against the forcers of Felir with arrows, precise and fast as the ones from Stokeworth.  
At the sound of the horn, his forcers moved diagonally to the left, forward as a small group of his swordsmen was sent to the hills, the archers of Rosby didn't react as they weren't as a threat to them as Felir's full force were to the infantry.

"Separate, my men! Flank them on the right side!" His armored knights and his 50 archers quickly were running across the field, the archers attacked the blind point of the shield wall as the knights waited for their attack.

"Hold our position!" The swordsmen maintained themselves at their positions, though they extended the line, the shield wall wasn't as thick as before. The attack of the archers of Rosby was now focusing on the archers of Stokeworth as they soon moved to the forests, attacking the ones on the hills without being so exposed.

"NOW! CHARGE!" The knights of Stokeworth moved against Eddard's infantry, the Rosbian captain shout to broke it as the pikemen tried to organize themselves moving to the front, the left side of Rosby's swordsmen wasn't affected by the charge, with it, Eddard soon tried to lead them to surround the knights.

The attack of the knights was crushing to the right arm of the infantry, the pikemen failed to act with success, Eddard's attempt of overwhelming with only numbers failed as they were hit by archers and Felir's "ATTACK!" order. The archers on the hill now moved eastward, successfully attacking and repelling the attempt of taking the hill by the small group of swordsmen

The archers of Stokeworth moved forward as the archers of Rosby focused on these archers instead of supporting the small group of infantrymen who were surrounded, Eddard was dead on the ground after a knight cut off his throat, Felir's forces were near of smashing these troops as the archers on the hill started to ungroup, some of them retreating.

"NOW! ATTACK! CHAAARGE!" Hugar shouted to his forces who now left the forest, the heavy cavalry on the vanguard, followed by light cavalry and pikemen on the flanks. The armies of Felir were compacted, focusing on attacking the almost vanished infantrymen of the deceased Eddard, the charge of Edgerton's force was brutal against the swordsmen of Felir, the small force of knights led by Felir was nothing, nor the archers, the tide of battle has turned, the army of Stokeworth wasn't able to contain the charge, the archers of Felir retreated, running through the forests.

"WE MUST WIN! HOLD! FOR OUR LIVES!" Felir shout, any attempt of inspiring wouldn't turn the scenario, his forces were attacked through the rear, totally undefended. Only a miracle could help him, but it wouldn't arrive.  
The battle continued, but soon, the rainings of arrows made by the archers on the hills, the attack of the cavalry and infantry against the now broke forces of Felir Stokeworth was too much, they were pressed against the hill.

The Battle of the Red Hill, the first confrontation between the forces of Stokeworth and Rosby ended in a victory for the latter. Felir Stokeworth dead during the battle, few of his forces were lucky enough to successfully retreat as the merciless forces of Edgerton butchered them.  
The casualties for Stokeworth were around 900 men, almost the entire army, for Rosby around 400 from 1300 troops.  
Short after the victory against Felir's men, Hugar received a message from Ghüris, requesting his return to the main army. The Lord of Edgerton instantly called for his men, going down to the south, passing through the woods while behind them there was only fire, a consuming flame that took for itself the corpse of the fallen soldiers of the battlefield.

**Stokeworth Castle, 7998** _(Before the Battle of the Red Hill)_

The crossing of the border by a considerable host led by the Lord of Rosby quickly catch the ears of Lord Kean Stokeworth, the size of it attracted suspicions about it, the opinions of the members of his council were diverse, from an open invasion to raiding the entire lordship.  
For Kean Stokeworth, the intentions of it weren't of importance, only destroying them was what mattered, after all, the defying House Byrch from the northern parts who attracted, even more, the support of Harren the Black for a separation of the domains of Stokeworth to split the region was clear, meanwhile, the intentions of the Lord of Stokeworth were the opposite of it, uniting all of it was his objective, his sole purpose. Internally, Greysor Byrch was the most powerful of his subjects, far from being his ally, he rejected a marriage between Prestan Stokeworth, his heir, and Ashlei Byrch, the eldest daughter of Greysor.  
Where he had no allies internally, externally the situation was different, the Darklyn of Duskendale were his allies since his marriage with Selina Darklyn, he also could count for the support of the Lord of Maidenpool.  
However, the actions of Ghüris were something he never waited for, the relationship between Stokeworth and Rosby were peaceful, though not allies.  
As soon as the news arrived, Kean Stokeworth reunited the members of his council to the keep of the castle of Stokeworth, the ancient seat of his dynasty, along with the members, the Lord called for his eldest son and his heir, Prestan.  
From the members of the council, there were:  
\- Dilron Barler, the Seneschal, the head member of the House Barler, of First Men origins, the family owns the largest and most productive farms of Stokeworth since a long time ago.  
\- Rendal, the Court Septon, of lowborn origins, head septon of the biggest sept of Stokeworth.  
\- Antorn the Masked One, the Spymaster, his ascension to the council is unknown, so do his background.  
\- Orland Tarner, the Chancellor, of an Andal family, the Tarner have since the times of Kean's father grow in power near the seat of the Byrch, his appointment was to grow their power to balance the area.  
\- Prestan Stokeworth, the Constable of Stokeworth, appointed in the begin of the reunion to make him the high commander of the troops.  
As soon as they started the reunion, the five sat around a table, on it, there were papers, documents and a detailed map of Stokeworth, upon saying the news of the movements of Rosby and appointing his heir as the Constable, the others soon were able to understand the situation.

"What can happen is dangerous, extremely dangerous to all of us," said Kean, pausing as he continued. "We must formulate a plan of defense only, the soon we manage to end it, the better," he added, waiting for any response.

"A line of defense around the castle should do, with the support of the walls, they won't be able to assault it," said Dilron, Kean looked at him but maintained himself in silence.

"Doing it would be not only a coward thing to do, but it would also let all of the territories open to attack. We should call for the Darklyns, our numbers would easily defeat them," was Orland's response, Kean frowned his eyebrows down, making a pensive expression, including Duskendale surely would bring the victory.

"We can send Ashlei to Duskendale, if we bring the Darklyn and by extension the Mootons of Maidenpool, Rosby would be crushed as soon as we make a united army. However, if we attack them without any cautions, many scenarios could emerge from the result, the worst of them being a total defeat and the take of Stokeworth with little to no forces to defend it," Prestan added, trying to give more shape to Orland's idea.

"The countryside would remain open to attacks, if, and until the Darklyn enter our territory, we would be at a fragile position, plus if the Byrch stands against us, we only would have a worse situation," the Lord said, being quiet as he continued. "The countryside being ravaged would bring us considerable problems, we would be at a total dependency of Duskendale".

"A smaller force could try smaller skirmishes against Rosby's united forces, if we are in advantage, we could attack," Dilron said.

The Court Septon, who wore his white robes maintained himself in silence, his light tone face, gave no expressions as his dark brown eyes looked paralyzed to the map on the table, the members of the council, except for the Spymaster looked at him, waiting for any answers.

"May the Seven are with us. Only the Gods can guide us at that moment. Our enemies lie in the north and west. I shall seek for the answers of the Seven, immediately!" He exclaimed, a shocked expression upon his face as he left the room, almost running.

"They answer no men, only the gods," Prestan said, seconds after the Septon left the room.

"Any views on it?" Kean asked, the question directed to Antorn.

His dark clothes covered his body along with his total black mask without anything on it, his robes, gloves, and tunic covered all of it, however, he wore nothing on his feet, revealing the paleness of it, his hand, covered by the dark glove was almost always near his belt, it only had a strange, curved dagger. Kean described Antorn as the most competent of his council, though the most mysteriously, at the same time he trusted him the most, he also untrusted him.

"Any chances of victory depends on Duskendale and possibly, Maidenpool. My sources tell me that Ghüris and his men, which forces are around three thousand and five hundred soldiers, are quickly marching, but avoiding to attack directly the castle. If we keep ourselves here, somehow manage the Byrch to help us and do the fight for us along with a small force of yours, when the Darklyns arrive, victory is ours. However, not even I know what could be our fate if he decides to attack the castle directly," Antorn added, Kean never knew from where he had his information, but they always were correct, he even knew of the lords of the Rivers pretending to rebel before it was declared.

"We must raise the most soldiers we can, reunite them here to protect Stokeworth. Prestan, I need you to communicate Felir Stokeworth to recruit 1000 soldiers, they must contain the raids on the countryside. Orland, go speak with the Byrch. Dilron, I need you to run Stokeworth while I raise the soldiers and speak with Ashlei to go to Duskendale. Antorn, go after the Septon, I need to know that he is up to," Kean stated, immediately leaving the room.

**Near Tumbler's Falls, 7998**

_"__What would be known as the War of the Riverlands had started. The river lords, tired of the tyrannical rule of the Hoare, stood up against Harren the Black on the year of 7998 after the Long Night.  
The House Tully of Riverrun led the rebellion, getting the support of the Blackwoods, Pipers, Mallisters and Vances. Harren Hoare, with Harrenhall as his mighty stronghold, had the support of the Brackens and the Harroways. The other houses, such as the Freys and the Rygers, chose for neutrality.  
The first conflict happened near the town of Tumbler's Falls, lying on the Blackwater Rush and between the Stoney Sept, the rebel forces who countered as far as eight thousand led by Jon Vance, Lord of Wayfarer's Rest tried to repel the attack of the ten thousand men army of the Hoares, led by Harlan Hoare, the second son of Harren.".  
\- The Wars of the Rivermen, Maester Stefon, 8033._

Divided by a river, the forces of the eight thousand men of the rebel river lords, encountered itself united by a common cause, to overthrow the tyrannical rule of the Ironborn, the army, led in the center by the dark-haired lord of Wayfarer's Rest, the Lord of Acorn's Ridge, Allyn Piper led the left. Meanwhile, the right flank was led by the heir of Branstone, Ser Patrek Perryn, though the most inexperienced flank, the composition of the crossbowmen and pikemen was visibly important, very important for Jon Vance.  
The area of the battle was essentially plain, full of grain and without the presence of trees, only the eastern tributary of the Blackwater Rush divided it, further north Tumbler's Falls was located, meanwhile, the sky was covered by the sun of midday, as the clouds made no presence in the sky.  
In the eastern side of the tributary, Harlan Hoare lead the ten thousand men on the center of it, Ser Wilbert Wode, Lord of Shoreham had the command of the left flank, composed of heavy infantry, armored men with bastard swords and heater shields. The right flank, however, was commanded by Ser Brayan Stanner, Master of the Horse, composed by the heavy cavalry, directly of the Rivers, it was an army made of rivermen, led by rivermen, though Harlan Hoare, an Ironborn was the main commander.  
The three commanders of the Hoare army were distant of the river, having a complete vision of the rebel army, they soon meet in front of the armies, they believed the rivermen couldn't stand against their forces when they looked at the enemy forces, they were sure of a devastating charge from the right flank's heavy cavalry.

"Honorable companions. Our victory is only divided by a river, the soon we cross it without complications the sooner our victory comes," Harlan Hoare said to the other two commanders, his voice was confident, the opposing army had little to no, the largest force was the right flank, where only pikemen and crossbowmen were present.

"If my men cross it without losses, victory is assecured," Ser Brayan Stanner stated, it even looked as he almost gave the order for his men to move forward.

"Here, we must advance with caution, or defend our position. The rebels are almost calling for our attack," Ser Wilbert adviced them, he was against a total attack.

"Your vision is misguided here, Ser. We attack at three separate points. The left flank of Piper is the where their lowest numbers reside, a crushing attack of the heavy cavalry can put the rebel rivermen's infantry at their place. Meanwhile, I cross the river, the center of our army, even with light infantry and archers, can fight against them before you two press their forces," Harlan stated, ignoring any further word as he slowly moved forward, sounding through his iron horn as his men followed him.

"Ser Brayan! MOVE!" Harlan ordered, soon the cavalry under the command of the Master of Horses run across the grainy plains, they followed the diagonal, distancing themselves from the center as Harlan followed a straight line.

Willbert followed through the diagonal, aiming to cross the river with his heavy infantry.  
Soon, the Hoare's army marched against the river, a bloody lust in their eyes as they followed their commanders, the spirit of the army was Harlan Hoare and his men would follow him even to the ends of the world.

**Dragonstone, 7998**

The proclamation of Aegon Targaryen as Emperor meant for him, his sisters and subjects the dawn of a new era with them and their dragons as the heralds of it, the New Era of the Dragons as they called it.  
Soon, the Emperor called for total support of his subjects, requesting total support with armies, supplies and mainly navies, they needed a huge amount of it to transport their forces to Essos.

"Today. A new era will start because of our dreams and ambitions, an ambition to bring justice to the land of Essos, to bring peace, prosperity and rebuild the greatness of once, not only for Essos but for the ancient people of Valyria and their descendants," Aegon stated, Blackfyre in his right hand as he stared against sun itself, looking through the horizon. He wore a shirt of black scales, his circlet crown around his head, his red cloak with him, a leather belt, steel gauntlets, his lower body protected by pieces of steel plate armor.

"And we will realize it. It's our fate, as the heralds of a golden era, the Targaryen Era, soon Essos will see it," Visenya said, side by side with her brother-husband, she held Dark Sister with both of her hands, looking at the horizon, the sunlight reflecting against her long silver-golden hair, she wore a long tunic, made of silk, it was of a reddish color, with embroideries who reminded fire, it had an orangeish color. Above the tunic, dark chainmail protected the trunk of her body, reaching her knees, her waist up to her ankles was covered by dark woolen hoses, along with a boot who extended up to her calves.

"We shall bring it, the warm, burning, pleasant sensation of peace to Essos, to the people that eagerly wait for us," Rhaenys added, her hands touching Aegon's chest, his left hand wrapping around her waist. She wore a red tunic that fell to her knees, black sleeves, a leather belt around her waist with pieces of jewelry on it, she used the same woolen hoses of her sister, and like her, she used a boot who reacher her calves.

"It will start, the dawn of a new era is upon us," Aegon declared, his eyes fixed against the sun, the rays of light embraced the three Targaryens, who in turn looked to it, admiring the magnificent presence of it.

Orys Baratheon, the rumored bastard brother of Aegon, stayed in an enormous room inside Dragonstone Keep, he was supervising the servants who cleaned the room and prepared it, there were plenty of papers on one of the tables. Near it, four servants worked with them, cutting it, embellishing it, putting symbols of three dragons on the top and two swords on the inferior corners, these symbols represented the Valyrian steel swords from the Targaryen House and Aegon, Rhaenys, and Visenya.  
The dark-haired Baratheon held with both of his hands a piece of paper, a completed one, the text written on it, he looked at it, reading to himself.

"_I, Aegon, the first of my name, Emperor of the Valyrians, King of all Essos, Shield to my people, communicate my de jure subjects from Essos to accept my rightful governance and rulership, swearing fealty to me and my dynasty. Peace, prosperity, justice, and stability must be reestablished on the once magnificent continent of Essos, and I, Aegon Targaryen, took the mantle of doing it by requesting peacefully the nine free cities of Essos to submit to my rule, avoiding the bloodshed of my people to the selfish, arrogant and narcissistic wills of the rulers that dominate over my land. Submit and continue your life peacefully, ruling your current lands as my vassal, or stand up against me and fear the mighty of the Dragon and its eternal fire. As a benevolent Emperor, I give one week to your answer, make your choice wisely, the consequences can be harsh,_" was the message, meant to be sent to all of the Free Cities.

The preparations for the invading Essos and to submit it were at progress, Orys Baratheon estimated to him being able to raise a force with forces approximating three thousand men and 150 ships. Orys and the Targaryens knew that the Free Cities never would submit with ease, however, they were sure that victory would welcome them, after all, they had mighty war beasts.  
Daemon Velarion was appointed by Aegon as the Master of Ships, he would lead the Targaryen Fleet to the first target, Pentos, the three Targaryens would attack it, though avoiding to destroy it was a huge priority, sacking the city and occupying it, taking the main stronghold of Pentos was the main objective, it would be the operations base for the next attacks.  
After a short period of days, the messages were sent to the Sealord of Braavos, to the three Triarchs of Volantis, the Archons of Tyrosh and Lorath, Magisters of Myr, Pentos, Lys and Qohor, as well to the High Priest of Norvos.

**Castle of Stokeworth, 7998**

The men entered Stokeworth Castle, past the walls of the fort, wearing kneeling mail and conical helmets made of iron, with the concentrated features of the soldiers recruited by Kean Stokeworth, holding pikes or swords, marching on. Slowly paced, led by the Lord himself, they entered his domain, the sunny, cloudless day was welcomed, after all, the day had just begun, and about three thousand soldiers accompanied him, be them archers, infantrymen, or horsemen.  
The people of Stokeworth, especially the lower-tier ones, marveled at the sight of the soldiers coming through the reinforced wooden gates, the audience watching them, cheering them, throwing flower petals, clapping a huge smile on their face, the impression. What this was about was that Kean had set them free, and saved them from Stokeworth's bad condition of living, and of course, it was the opposite. Still, when the Lord was the first to pass through the gates, the people only shouted at him, greeting him, followed by the cheers to the various soldiers who followed them, who did it not by admiration or loyalty, but out of duty.  
However, even though Kean was welcomed by the people of Stokeworth, he was dissatisfied, frustrated, worried, and especially angry, and anger turned to hatred; after all, House Byrch was opposing the Stokeworth. The attempt to gain support from the Byrch and the northernmost aristocrats was a total failure on the part of Orland Tarner, and now, Brennard Byrch was raising his soldiers, preparing to move southward to strike the Stokeworth at the worst outcome the Lord of Stokeworth could think of.

"Dorran!" Kean shouted for, looking for one of the captains of his forces, Dorran Foral, at the eyes of Kean, he was one of the most competent of his army, he cared for the people above all, his loyalty was with the people of Stokeworth. And that would prove to be a major out blow against Kean in the next days.

"My Lord!" Dorran presented himself, dashing on his cavalry to approach the Stokeworth. "At your orders!"

"Dorran. The most I analyze my situation, the most I realize staying inside the walls will be my downfall. I need you to keep yourself here and command the 300 men garrison, do whatever you must to protect it," Kean said to his captain, his serious face as his brown eyes looked to Dorran, along with his brown beard gave to Dorran the sensation of the Lord's decision as being the right thing to do.

"As you wish, my Lord!" Dorran stated the robust face of the green-eyed captain who stared at the Lord gave to him the feeling of safeness to the matter of the castle.

"Start your task, now, Dorran. I need to make my definitive choice the fastest as possible," Kean stated, looking frontwards as his horse galloped.

Dorran, the new commander of the garrison quickly ran to the quarters of it, the barracks near the largest tower of the outside fortifications of the castle was where he wanted to arrive.  
Riding on his horse, he quickly moved to the direction it, his horse going at the fastest speed he could go. The new captain admired the blue sky, wondering what would be of his destiny, his fate, what was reserved to him? What would be of the threats of war? And most importantly, the future of the Castle Stokeworth and his people, he would do everything to protect them. While lost in his thoughts, the guards near the area of the garrison stopped him, demanding answers.

"What do you want here?" One of the guards asked, ignoring his plate, he surely didn't know Dorran, nor was aware of his coming, no one was.

"I'm Dorran Foral, head of the House Foral. Most importantly, a captain of the Lord's forces, and the new Commander of the garrison, appointed by the Lord himself," He said, there was pride in his voice. Doran then gave a paper to one of the two guards, the seal of Kean Stokeworth was present on it.

"Well... Be welcomed, new commander," the other guard said, holding his 7 meters pike with both hands, he stepped to the side, allowing the new commander to pass.

"A good first thing to do is to increase it, new "commander"," the other guard said, affronting him, with a wide grin on his face.

"I will speak with the former commander, he must be informed. Pass the information about my appointment to most men you can. I'll see what I can do related to the size of the garrison," Dorran said, entering the camp.

The new commander entered the camp, shouting of his new appointment as the two guards followed him, splitting themselves, trying to make most of the soldiers knew of it, it was what they called high priority information.  
For Dorran's unlucky, the former commander, Maxir Coldrin was reuniting the members of the garrison, he wanted to stop Dorran to control the garrison, it was an important piece in the defense of Stokeworth, and his pact with the Byrch was the most important thing.  
Maxir was aware that he wasn't important to the Lord, Antorn was even unaware of who led the garrison, and where the Stokeworth saw nothing, the Byrch saw a great opportunity, so do the Coldrin commander.  
The validity and truth of Dorran's words were undeniable, but the loyalty of the men of the garrison, who sworn to serve Maxir was greater, he had around 200 men of the 300 that would stand with him, and he knew Dorran had to be stopped. To do it, he quickly reunited his 200 loyal forces on the center of the camp, Dorran was accompanied only by 43 men, the others were dispersed around the walls.

**On the boundaries of a tributary of the Blackwater Rush, 7998**

On the north of where one of the tributaries of the Blackwater Rush ended, the Lord Edam Bracken, one of the few high lords supporting House Hoare marched with his assembled army towards the south, the march started in the seat of his House, Stone Hedge.  
His men marched to the south, avoiding troops from the Vance who were kept to defend the territory of Wayfarer's Rest with ease. The Bracken Lord and his 5000 men wanted to reestablish a firm, uncontestable of the eastern margin of the Blackwater Rush, and to do it, the fortifications and towns of who bordered the river needed to be reminded that Harren was the King of Rivers, and these territories belonged to the great King.

"My Lord! We are in lack of supplies, we must resolve it. Our forced march is also costing too much of our men's resistance," reported Ser Travan Charlton, his breastplate made of metal shined with the sunlight.

"A camp, we must move quickly as the forces of Harlan are near to cross the river, if they find any rebel troop, our support may prove very valuable. We will rest now, but tomorrow, our destiny lies even in the south, or in Castlewood," Edam stated, he quickly moved around his troops, his loud voice ordered them to build a camp, and quickly.

While the Bracken looked at the horizon, his thoughts focused on the next move. And he was already sure about what he should do and would do, move his forces to the south, to meet with Harlan Hoare, since together their armies would suppress the rebel lords of the south with ease.  
Edam trotted on his horse around the soldiers who started the preparations to build the camp, a defensive one. Ser Charlton was instructing them to do the task, as he ordered the troops, a group of prepared defensive structures, such as wooden spike walls on the outside of the wooden palisades which determined the main part of the camp.  
The Lord approached Ser Tristan Wayn, dismounted his black horse as he touched the steel pauldron of the Ser, calling for him in sequence.

"Ser Tristan Wayn," the firm voice of Edam called.

Tristan turned to him, his full plate armor along with his armet covered his whole body. "My Lord".

"Gather some men, scout the surrounds of our camp, if necessary, burn the forests near us," the Lord firmly ordered.

"As you wish, my lord," said the Ser, mounting on his horse as he directed to the right side of the camp, the shaking of his banner on the air quickly attracted around 50 soldiers with him.

Edam Bracken trusted on the efficiency of Tristan. The Ser never failed with Edam. More men had to be sent, be it to go south, or to reconnoiter the surroundings of Castlewood and the castle itself. And as such he did, sending Ser Grennar Grafton, his second-in-command along with 300 soldiers to Castlewood, and his eldest son and heir, Anron Bracken to march along the shores of the Blackwater Rush, going south.  
The camp, built by Bracken's men in approximately two days, was sufficiently large to hold his almost five thousand men, it bordered the waters of the Blackwater River which bathed the grainy, plain ground whom the camp was built. Northwards of the river, the terrain started to be densely populated by woods of many sizes, the plain ground started to have reliefs the norther you moved. Wooden palisades cornered the camp, with the notable except where the waters of the river bathed on, walls of wooden spikes followed the palisades, grounds on the north and left of the camp's outside made it only a small space to cross, the archers on minor wood structures could shoot enemy forces with ease.  
Following the river, the town of Tumbler's Falls, the most significant of the area stood on, minor villages surrounded the town, followed by huge farms, estates of aristocrats or not.  
Edam encountered himself divided, his plans, however, were far from helping Harlan Hoare, he couldn't care less for him. His soldiers needed more supplies, the northern territory of the lordship of Jon Vance was now patrolled since the news of Edam crossing it, the woods of the area proved to be a difficult task to establish, or try to, a supply line, the waters of the Blackwater Rush were too risky and unviable. Then, the Lord decided that he would move south when his scouts returned, Tumbler's Falls and the villages, huge farms of the Riverlands were meant to be the victims of his attacks.

**Near Tumbler's Falls, 7998**

The forces of the Hoare approached the waters of the Blackwater Rush, the only thing that separated both forces, Jon Vance was the main commander of the rebel's forces. He had to deal with the approaching army the fastest he could. The plan of the three commanders was of use the river as a means to counter the approaching of the heavy infantry and cavalry, and that was the main function of the crossbowmen and the right flank.  
However, the communication between the three commanders was minimal, Jon previously ordered Patrek Perryn to his crossbowmen to move to the left, to try to delay the heavy cavalry.

"Forward, to the shores of the river!" Jon shout, the center advanced in front of him, his pikemen, armored with chainmail armor and iron nasal helmet were the vanguard, appoint large five feet pikes to the approaching center of Harlan, who just started to cross the river.

"Follow me!" Jardan Upcliff ordered. He was the captain of the archers of the center, riding on his horse he moved to the right, maintaining himself distant from the shores of the river, his men already were aiming at the center and left flank forces of the enemy army while Ser Patrek Perryn and his crossbowmen passed behind the forces of the river lords, running as they finally joined with the left flank of Piper.

"We must hold our position when they came! Move already, Perryn!" Allyn said, his forces moving backward as Perryn and his crossbowmen moved forward, positioning themselves at the shores of the river, aiming at the coming heavy cavalry.

While the light infantry of Piper distanced from each other, opening spaces to a cavalry charge, the south of the center, composed by the heavy cavalry of Jullon Vance, Jon's son and heir, moved backward, now the rear of the rebel's army, he was meant to relieve any pressure of the river army, mainly the weak right flank of the pikemen, who prepared themselves to an attack of the heavy infantry.  
The forces of Harlan crossed the river, unimpeded by anything, they marched quickly over the waters of the river. The men of Jon and Harlan were meant to crash against each other. Ser Brayan and his cavalrymen started to cross the river, waves of projectiles ran against them as the pace of the horses increased. Ser Wilbert hesitantly marched with his heavy infantry on the river, distant from the other components of the army, they prepared to clash with the weak pikemen's left flank from the rebels, the only support the Hoares had from the eastern margin was longbowmen of the center, and in low numbers compared with the crossbowmen of the river lords.

The Battle of Blackwater Rush was starting, the outcome, unknown.

* * *

_A/N: A more martial chapter, I'd say._


End file.
